30 - 31 Weeks - Baby 2

Pregnancy Update April 26, 2014

How far along: 31 Weeks.  Due June 28, 2014.

Size of baby: 16.25 inches, 3.3lbs. Apparently they've run out of fruit, because now he's the size of 4 naval oranges.

What developed this past week: Baby's irises can now dilate and respond to changes in light. He's getting more fat cells under his skin and he's becoming more pink than red in color. 

Weight Gain: 24 lbs.  

Maternity clothes: All maternity and Caleb's shirts to sleep in.

Gender: A sweet boy.

Movement: Finally I've felt some hiccups!!  It took until Saturday, April 12, at exactly 29 weeks, but he's had them multiple times since. So sweet. The first time I didn't realize what I was feeling and had my sister in law, Laurie, feeling him "move". It wasn't until he got them again on Wednesday, that I realized he was having hiccups! Tiny movement in the same exact spot over and over... DUH! Should've realized sooner - this isn't my first rodeo... haha  But it is cool that Laurie got to be the first one to feel them with me!  

Also, I've figured out a way to get B2 to move on command... If I lean forward (like elbows on my knees style), apparently he gets squished and doesn't like it! He squirms all around like, "Mom! Hello?! I'm in here! Sit back! I'm running out of space in here as it is!" 

Sleep/Symptoms: Braxton Hicks every day still - usually brought on by strenuous activities (like picking up Bryson) or having a full bladder. :) My back hurts often - any time I shift positions to relieve the pain in one part of my back, it just puts the pressure on a different part and gives a different pain. Still have the round ligament pain near my ribs too... Reclining back in my chair at work with a back support is definitely the most comfortable position to sit in (for both my back and my ribs), so I try to do that as often as possible. 

Still sleeping OK. I wake up to turn over and try to get more comfortable, but don't usually have a problem going back to sleep. I find that I go to sleep on my side, but often wake up on my back. Then I roll to my other side... and sometimes I still roll to my stomach! at 30 weeks! Ridiculous... I can't believe the baby isn't too big for this! As long as I keep my leg pulled up so my hip is off the bed, my hips are turned, and only the top of my stomach is down, I'm good! It's crazy...  

What I miss: Can't think of anything this week.

Cravings: Nothing new.

Best moment this week: The ultrasound and doctor appt I had on April 22! Probably one of the best moments of the whole pregnancy! Laura measured the baby to make sure he is growing appropriately since the last u/s and he is! Here are his measurements at 30w3d:

I hear from someone just about every.single.day. how small I am for X# weeks... But the baby seems to be ok, and my AFI (amount of amniotic fluid) was 10, minimum is 5! So looks like everything is good - maybe baby is just lower in my hips since they're probably wider because a child has passed through them before... I don't know :)

The other BEST news is that my placenta moved!!! When I first looked at the screen to see the placenta Laura was pointing to, I could've sworn I saw a "crack" right beside it which I assumed was my cervix... but luckily for me, I am not the sonographer! haha Laura said, "Nope - your cervix is up here! Everything looks good! You're okay to give birth naturally!" YAY!!! I honestly don't think I stopped smiling for a good 24 hours! 

Baby was still in the head down position, but this time flipped left/right from the last sono. His bum was to my left and feet back to his face on my right. Unfortunately, the kid WOULD NOT move his feet from in front of his face! I tried laying on my side, we shook him around, anything we could to get to move so we could see his sweet face, but to no avail! So these are the pics we got...  don't laugh at my flexi-ankled child. lol

Yes - that's his FOOT, not his hand, over his eyes!

Still such a sweet face!!! Can't wait to see it in person! :)

Not a good profile pic... not sure why THIS is the one Laura chose to print?...

Bryson Update: We got to go to Uncle Jon and Aunt Grace's house (3 hours away) this weekend for Easter... B LOVES them and they LOVE him :)  They spoiled him with an Easter basket of all his favorite goodies!! More balls, a Bengals hat (Uncle Jon's team, not Daddy's Cowboys...), a butterfly net, bubbles, baseball bat/ball, sunglasses, etc! L-O-V-E!

 

 

It was so beautiful outside so we spent a lot of time out there playing and coloring Easter eggs then doing Bryson's 1st Easter Egg Hunt! SUCH FUN! The look on his face was priceless each time he'd spot another egg! He'd point and run. Adorable!

The Incredible Hulk

We ended up with lots of broken eggs (that kid is not gentle...), but even more great memories! So happy we got to spend the time relaxing and enjoying our family for the weekend!

HERE'S LOOKIN' AT YOU, KID!

24 Weeks - Baby 2

Pregnancy Update March 8, 2014

 

Bryson has his hands out in question saying "Where's Dada?"... which is what we asked him in order to get him to look at the camera as Daddy took the picture. Couldn't get a smile at the right time, but at least he was looking, I guess!

How far along: 24 Weeks!  Due June 28, 2014.

Size of baby: 12.5 inches, 1.25lbs. An ear of corn.

What developed this past week: Baby can probably sense which way is up now (which I would think that if I was him I'd rather not know, considering my head is supposed to be down for WEEKS yet...). His respiratory system is also rapidly growing - lungs are developing and moving amniotic fluid in and out, though oxygen is still being provided to him through the placenta. 

He is gaining about 6oz a week between the growing fat supplies and the growing organs and bones. He's able to hear a lot of what's going on now too! His face is almost fully formed, complete with eyebrows, eyelashes, and hair. Bryson was born with dark hair (that turned blonder over time). It'll be interesting to see what this baby has!

Weight Gain: 16.8 pounds. I've made up for a little of the excessive weight gain of the past 2 weeks - I didn't gain an OUNCE this week! Woohoo! lol

Maternity clothes: I think my smaller size maternity clothes are starting to get tight. I wish it wasn't so cold so that I could take some walks and try to help my body decide where to gain the baby weight so I could hopefully stay in the smaller maternity pants! 

Gender: A cute boy!!
Look at that precious jaw, lips, shoulder, bicep, and chest!

Movement: Baby is often moving. More people got to feel him this week! Even sitting in church on Sunday, I was watching my belly moving around! Talk about a distraction! :) 

Sleep/Symptoms: Not great, but still getting my time in if I can go to bed early enough. Just doesn't feel as restful when I wake up multiple times. I was able to take a few naps this weekend to help give me enough energy to get some cleaning done.  

What I miss: Being able to workout. I'm planning to ask my doctor in a couple weeks if I can start taking walks outside when the weather warms up. I feel like a bump on a log, but I don't want to irritate my placenta at all. So far the doctor just said pelvic rest and to limit doing things that put pressure on my cervix, like heavy lifting. I'm not sure if walking counts as a "strenuous" activity??

Low-lying placenta update: According to the ultrasound, my placenta is still low-lying, as it was last time (5 weeks ago). The Sonographer said it's "kissing my cervix"... so it's not covering the inner cervix at all, but it's right there... She and the doctor both think there is plenty of hope that it will move, since I have so much time left for B2 to grow and pull it up (as the baby gets bigger, the lower region of the uterus grows the most, making the placenta further north than it had once been).  We'll check again at 35ish weeks (and I'm hoping for another check around 30 weeks so I can know how much hope I have of a natural delivery) to decide if I can deliver or need to schedule a c-section. Pray it moves!

Cravings: Everything is good! Eating salad for lunch almost every day at work... it makes me feel better about eating extra meals/snacks throughout the day, knowing that at least 1 meal was only veggies! :) 

Best moment this week: My 23 week doctor appointment and ultrasound (3/3/14)! Got to see our sweet boy again.  His heart rate was a [crazy] 181 bpm! I've never had either boy be above 173ish. I didn't feel terribly nervous, but I was about to find out if my placenta moved at all.... so maybe he and I were both a little one edge.

His skin was all closed up around his perfectly formed spine! No spina bifida! And no cleft lip! 

He was positioned with his head down, bum to my right and feet back to my left, like he was folded in half kissing his knees. His toes were way above his head! My 2nd tall boy! 

Bryson Update: Bryson had his 15 month doctor appointment on Wednesday the 5th (at 15.5 months old). He was 27 lbs .4oz. 32.5 inches long. Head was 50th percentile, height and weight were both around 80th percentile. He had 2 more shots to get (leaving only 1 more for his 18 mo appt!! Just before I have another baby and start all the shots all over again. Boo! :( ). Bryson freaks out whenever I get him near that dr table... it's no wonder! Nothing good happens on that table! Poked and prodded every time! Otherwise, the doctor said he was ahead of the game with his comprehension and ability to name things like animals and body parts. He's on par for his speech (5-10 words), but he also signs plenty more words and performs MANY "tricks" on command, which the doctor applauded.

At the doctor's office, waiting for the doctor to come in:

Bryson can now add "Artist" or "Writer" (according to Grammy's notation) to his resume... while at Grammy and Grandpa's house on 2/21, Grandpa allowed Bryson the use of his pen! I hadn't taught Bryson yet how to color, so Grandpa got the honor when Bryson went down to his office to say good morning.
Here's his work of art:

The kid's a prodigy, I know... :)
In other news, Bryson now knows to point to my belly if I ask him, "Where's your brother??" Unfortunately, I think he may think that's what my belly is called, as he doesn't quite understand there's another boy in there! He'll get there...
Bryson also is daily putting his hands out asking "Where?" or "Why?" whenever we ask him where something is, for example. He also does it when he doesn't know something. Very cute to see him understand what we're asking and respond.
This week he got to play at his cousin's house while mama and daddy went shopping for an hour or two. My SIL said he climbed the stairs, up and down, no less than 500 times, and climbed on and off their toddler beds at least 100 times! That kid likes to do something new over and over until he perfects it! haha When we picked him up, he fell asleep in the car and didn't wake up at all while we took his coat off and put his sleep sack on him! Those girls and stairs tired him out!

My sweet boy in his daddy's hat